Merrick Garland says it would be ‘absurd’ for an attorney general to edit special counsel report

(CNN) — Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday that it would have been “absurd” for someone in his position to edit or redact a special counsel’s final report.

Posted 4:20 p.m. Mar 21 — Updated 4:20 p.m. Mar 21

Hannah Rabinowitz

, CNN

CNN — (CNN) — Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday that it would have been “absurd” for someone in his position to edit or redact a special counsel’s final report.

In response to a question about whether former special counsel Robert Hur’s characterization of President Joe Biden was inappropriate in his final report, Garland said it was his obligation to release a full and unedited report.

“The idea that an attorney general would edit or redact or sensor the special counsel’s explanation for why the special counsel reached the decision that the special counsel did – that’s absurd,” Garland said during a news conference at the Justice Department to announce an antitrust lawsuit against Apple.

While the facts of Hur’s report and the overall process of his investigation into whether Biden mishandled classified information haven’t been challenged, Hur has been criticized by allies of the president over whether his final report went too far by publicly criticizing’s Biden memory or selectively including excerpts of a deposition with the president.

Hur did not recommend charges against the president but his report led to plenty of consternation among Democrats about Hur’s description of Biden as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

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